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Convicted Murderers, Thieves, and pirates. They all have a propensity towards violence. Something that the Empire of Khodar needs in its struggle against the Thelmor Dominion. As a convicted criminal, you are given the choice. Serve in the army for a chance at freedom or go to headsman. Wanting to live, you choose the former and enter the world of the Black Company.

6 Traits: 1d8, 2d10, 2d12, 1d20 (includes Luck & Knowledge will be called Wisdom)- Magic can be taken as a Trait, but it is selected from allocation of Skills8 Skills: 2d10, 2d12, 4d20- Reduced number at start reflects your humble and unskilled beginnings.A List of skills can be found in the Storyteller & Player’s Guide for Pathfinder using The Window. They do not have to limited to those found in the guide.Racial Traits must be selected from the starting allotment. In other words, they are not free. The benefit from being human is having more variety of skills.Nothing too excotic in terms of races. The standard races in core pathfinder are acceptable. Anything outside of that, please ask first.

Fluff:Appearance: (with avatar picture to use with IMGSet)Personality:Concept: Background:Your Crime: (Must be something that will give you a death sentence. The Black Company doesn’t need pansies that only have to serve a few years.)Plot hooks: - OPTIONAL - Adversaries, vows of vengeance (yours or against you), kin of victims that would rather see you dead, etc

Horns is 9 foot tall and 4 feet wide at the shoulders, weighing 400+ pounds. His muscular body is covered in dark brown fur with some patches being black. His hands are three fingered, counting the opposable thumb. His has a thin, 4 foot tail that ends in tuft of fur that is useful for swatting flies and not much else. He stands erect on to large hooved feet, but they are not iron-shod. He has a steel ring in his nose. Sprouting from his head are two large, curving forward horns (this his namesake) that end in sharp tips.

Personality:

Horns feels misunderstood. He never believed himself to be a monster or a beast. But the smaller people around him always saw him that way and he got off on the wrong foot most of the time. When provoke, he can act out with extreme violence. But when treated right, he is capable of being loyal and helping out a comrade... if he actually ever had a comrade. Generally he is skeptical of anyone and is very slow to trust. In prison, he was one of the toughest inmates, even if he was not the most skilled. So he had some that wanted to be on his good side to get protection for others that would bully. But with his horns encased in cork, his greatest weapon was rendered useless.

Crime:Goring people to death one too many times. A couple of misunderstandings were one thing, but trouble follows Horns and people had died. Better to lock the beast up just in case. Even in prison, more people died around him.

History:Minotaurs were rare in the Empire of Khodar, but they existed. Julius Maarthanga had been enslaved early in his existence, breed and intended for service in an underground lair of an evil wizard. Some enterprising heroes came into the labyrinth and killed all the adult minotaurs, the wizard, and other minions to loot the treasure. Julius was inadvertently freed as the heroes did not bother with the slave pens. So Julius found himself free with the little ogres, hobgoblins, and bugbears and wandered off into the mountains.

Julius stole some and wandered among the farmlands and villages until he found himself nearer to the city. He was snatched up to be a bodyguard for a low level criminal and that provided him a living and place to stay. But most of the time his hulking presence was enough to keep him from having to resort to violence to protect his boss. He was called "Horns" then, since Julius just did not sound impressive enough.

Of course the good life of being a leashed dog was short lived in fateful afternoon of violence between his boss and one of his rivals. Horns had gored more than a few thugs that day, including his boss's rival. But the battle got out of hand with some innocent bystanders getting caught up in it and the Guard was called out. Horns got a few of them too and was eventually subdued and put in prison.

Plothooks:Since he was imprisoned for killing folks there are a number of people that would be disappointed that the minotaur was going to escape execution. Chief amongst them are friends/family of the criminal boss that he personally gored. Among the bystanders and guards there are plenty of bigoted people that also hope that The Black Company will be the death of Horns and will not be happy to see him free.

Appearance: Ataxia is an unassuming Gnome (as unassuming as a Gnome can be) who looks older and less agile than he actually is... And he likes it that way. More often than not, in his past, he was overlooked as a lesser threat when, in fact, he was by far the most deadly.

He has yellow tinged skin and bold blue/purple hair that he wears at a medium length. It shoots up and back from his face giving him a constant 'blasted' look. His eyes are a similar purple to his hair and are the predominant feature of his face. He is almost unnervingly thin and has long limbs and fingers relative to his diminutive size. He stands 3'3" and weighs 65 lbs. on a good day.

Personality: Ataxia is, at first glance, completely unpredictable and quite mad. In reality, though, he knows, very well, his actions cause confusion and, in the best case scenario, complete panic. For all his sociological shortcomings, however, he is unwavering in his devotion to 'the cause'. This, coupled with the fact, for good or bad, he is fearless and ever the optimist makes him a prime candidate for the Black Company.

"I don't cause chaos to spite you,you pig faced swill suckler! You're nothing in the universe... I do it to spite order itself. A greater cause by far."~ Ataxia Praxx (to the judge upon sentencing)

Concept: An integral part of the rebellion known as The Bedlamites, Ataxia was the lead alchemist in the chaotic gang. Now he looks to create even more bedlam... This time with the apparent backing of a nation.

Background: Ataxia Praxx was born to a good family and was, from a very young age, deemed troublesome. His wanderlust and absolute glee in watching things explode made his youth a turbulent one. An eye for an eye was not a concept Ataxia could comprehend. For him it was more along the lines of 'an eye for a future of torment and pranks, destroying alliegences, cutting off resources and possibly, eventually blowing you up'.

He was chased from his family home after a particularly large explosion leveled a nearby farm. With a grin and a thumbs up he began his life adventure... Finally!

In addition to his curiosity for chemistry he also had had a long lived curiosity towards magic. A passing fledgling Mage had once 'misplaced' a beloved wand and it had somehow 'miraculously' made its way into Ataxias hand. After weeks of tinkering and experimenting with it he stumbled upon the key to successfully unlocking the magic held within it. Since, it's been hit and miss but he always has fun trying to figure out the toys of the finger wagglers.

His understanding of how different materials and compounds reacted with one another became an obsession to him... fascinated him. He slowly collected test tubes and beakers and containers to help with his experiments. He was constantly looking for a bigger bang.

One day, when he was staying in a seedy hovel in some dirty port town, there was a knock at his door. It was another Gnome and the two chatted for some time before his visitor brought up the Bedlamites. Ataxia sat, hand in chin and mouth agape, enraptured by the tale of the rebel group.

The Bedlamites enemy was universal order. They believed that, in a world slowly turning towards mass order and predictability, the scales were being shifted from balance.

The mysterious Gnome explained how one might think an organization of lunatics might prove impossible but the Bedlamites prove that theory wrong.

Little was known of the small but feared group, the visiting Gnome had elaborated. Their lair was unknown as were their motives, although it had been suggested they feel there was too much order and wreaked chaos in a demented bid to balance the universe.

It was widely believed their leader may be Napier Jackson, a chaotic rogue that had escaped from the most secure dungeon in Mendals Cross. How or where he gained his followers was a mystery.

Although Napier was a human, most of his cult were Gnomes, insane and desperate for explosive chaos. The Gnomes penchant for tinkering and the discovery and creation of what they refer to as 'the dust of fiery expanse' made them the perfect candidates for the Bedlamites.

Whether the law was just and wanted or oppressive and heavy handed made no difference. Anytime you found a society where law remained unchallenged, you would surely hear the explosive blasts of the Bedlamites.

Ataxia Praxx had fallen in love with the universe at that very moment and joined the movement without hesitation. Because of the grand scale of their purpose, the Bedlamites knew no borders and were the scourge of both Khodar and the Thelmor Dominion alike.

Your Crime: Blowing up the carriage of the nobleman, Elexior Montaux... By strapping him with alchemist fire, binding and gagging him then hitting him with an arrow as he stumbled from his unconscious state and out of his guard encircled vehicle. Montaux was leading the kingdoms charge to eradicate the Bedlamites. It was suggested there may have, also, been a personal sleight to Ataxia specifically.

Plot hooks: - There are no shortages of enemies Ataxia has gathered through his random acts of explosive violence. Nobles and peasants alike have axes to grind with the Bedlamites leading explosives maker. The most influential would have to be the family and friends of Montaux.

It's late for me so here, at least, is the fluff I've written. I'll have mechanics up soon, just not tonight.

AppearanceOz is a stunted man of average build. He possesses angled features that hint at mixed heritage. His lips are thin and permanently drawn into a dour expression, unaided by his sharp brows and cheekbones. He dresses one step behind the latest fashion and pays little mind to his sandy blonde hair (now shot with streaks of grey).

PersonalityOz is analytical, cynical, pragmatic. He has a very literal mind. His humor is seldom expressed but those who have known him long enough report it to be as dark as it is dry.

ConceptAlchemical healer and surgeon with a slipping grip on his humanity.

BackgroundChildhood – Oz was born to a butcher (Raymond) and an herbalist (Vivienne) of middling talent. He had one sister, called Zoe. Whenever local farmers became injured or traders were attacked by monsters on the frontier, they were rushed to Vivienne for her teas, poultices, and stitching. While she was poor at soothing the aches and fever of minor illness, her skill at preventing wounds from festering was not matched by any other in Millstream.

Oz’s boyhood mate, a dwarven youth by the name of Grolgud Hammermane, and his family were returning from a clan gathering in the hills one day in the fall of Oz’s 9th year. Not far from the town’s log walls, they were set upon by hobgoblins. Grolgud ran for help and the militia (such as it was) hurried to rescue their own townsfolk. Vivienne and Oz tended to most of the family’s superficial injuries but Grolgud’s father, Torengud, had suffered grievous wounds protecting his wife and children until salvation arrived. The surly dwarf knew he was not long for this world and whispered for Oz to end his misery. In a daze, the child protested only briefly before pushing a knife into Torengud’s neck.

Teenage Years – Raymond endeavored to raise his son into the family trade. He taught Oz that the butcher’s cleaver could be an instrument of brutality or of artistic beauty, depending on the hand possessing it. Oz was fascinated by his father’s work from early on. He quickly picked up intimate knowledge of livestock anatomy and earned some coin assisting Raymond around their small shop.

When Oz was 13, Zoe died at the tender age of 4, a victim of influenza. Vivienne’s healing arts were insufficient to save her daughter and she never forgave herself. Some few years thereafter, all the neighbors agreed that Vivienne died of a broken heart. She had, they said, at least imparted to her son what little knowledge she possessed.

Young Adulthood – Oz fell in love with a cooper’s daughter named Lillian Summerwyne. He courted her for months before he first tumbled her. They were to be wed soon after Oz celebrated his 17th nameday; Lillian was huge with child.

Tragedy struck while Oz and his betrothed were screwing in the back of the butcher shop. A newly gutted hog hung from a hook several feet away from the sweating couple. The chain was old and rusted. As Lillian approached climax, she threw her head back against a support beam. The repetitive slamming of her body against the wood sent shocks throughout the framework of the back room and the old chain snapped. The hog fell to the floor and the chain lashed through the air, removing much of Lillian’s face and scalp. She was dead before either lover knew anything was amiss. Horrified and panicked, Oz took no time to grieve. He cut Lillian open, just as any of the livestock hanging overhead, and pulled his infant daughter out. The child was premature and had no mother, nor any wet nurse to be found in the village of Millstream; Hannah Zoe Carver died within 3 days.

Adulthood – Oz could not bear to remain in Millstream. He was haunted by gruesome deaths from the span of his life. He travelled to Fairview and sought a change in work. He met Avery Moriarty, a mad half-elf shunned by most of the populace. Attracted to Moriarty’s solitude, Oz apprenticed under the unstable alchemist. He came to appreciate the scientist’s company as much as the isolation he achieved by association. There was no hesitation to accept when Moriarty offered him a journeyman position and proposed field research. The two travelled together for nearly two decades and then Moriarty blew himself up. Oz felt no sense of loss, only emptiness.

The CrimeOz heard rumors of plague and travelled to Whiteshore, a large town settled on the Whiterun River, to deal with a typhoid outbreak. As fate would have it, that was a drought year and the settlement was doomed. After several weeks, only a few hundred settlers remained and he had no illusions about saving the town. Determined to pull at least a few back from the edge, he calculated their odds. Oz ceased treatment for all people he deemed lost to fever or starvation. As soon as those died, he secretly butchered them to supplement the diets of those he believed may live. The simple folk were rejuvenated by a greasy meat paste and Oz’s alchemical remedies, only to discover their cannibalism. The local government (and population) had been devastated by plague so they formed a lynch mob. Oz escaped to Calbourne but was arrested days later for his abominable deeds.

Plot HooksEvery resident of Whiteshore knows Oz’s face and would see him dead—one lyncher even proposed feeding some of Oz’s non-essential appendages to himself. It’s been about 20 years since Oz spoke with his father, who is in his sixties now and has recently heard news of the events in Whiteshore. Grolgud did not witness Oz euthanizing Torengud but a younger child may have seen it and recently made sense of what was observed during a period of shock over 30 years ago. Oz spent 7-10 weeks in a settlement with typhoid everywhere; ironically, he could be a carrier.